Centennial of General Relativity Theory Topic for Feb. 17 Science Cafe

UM physicist presents new perspectives on Einstein's theory

Luca Bombelli

Luca Bombelli

OXFORD, Miss. – The centennial of Albert Einstein’s theory of general relativity is the topic for a monthly public science forum organized by the UM Department of Physics and Astronomy.

The spring semester’s first meeting of the Oxford Science Cafe is set for 6 p.m. Feb. 17 at Lusa Pastry Cafe, 2305 West Jackson Ave. Luca Bombelli, UM associate professor of physics and astronomy, will discuss “General Relativity at 100.” Admission is free.

“Albert Einstein published the first papers on his theory of gravity, General Relativity, 100 years ago,” Bombelli said. “Several predictions of the theory for the solar system, where gravity is relatively weak, were tested and confirmed early on. The first observations of galaxies outside the Milky Way mostly fit the predictions of the theory for the evolution of the universe as a whole.”

Bombelli’s 30-minute presentation will include discussions of how Einstein’s theory has been challenged by new discoveries in recent years.

“The mathematical beauty of the fact that it explained gravity as curvature of space-time helped make general relativity the currently accepted theory,” he said. “But predicting the behavior of objects where gravity is really strong, such as near black holes or neutron stars, is much more difficult. In this sense, our understanding of gravity is still in its youth.”

In cosmology, the quality of scientists’ observations of very distant regions of the universe has improved dramatically in recent years.

“Those results appear to challenge the predictions of general relativity,” Bombelli said. “Studies of how to combine gravity with quantum theory and the other known forces in nature also indicate that at microscopic scales, general relativity will need to be replaced by a different theory.”

Bombelli earned his doctoral and master’s degree from Syracuse University and a bachelor’s degree from Laurea, the University of Milan in Italy. He began working at UM in 1996 as a visiting professor. Before that, he was employed at the universities of Geneva and Zurich in Switzerland, Mercyhurst College in Erie, Pennsylvania, the Université Libre de Bruxelles in Brussels, Belgium, the University of Calgary in Canada and the University of Vienna in Austria.

Bombelli’s research interest is theoretical physics. He has been published in numerous peer-reviewed scholarly journals.

For more information about Oxford Science Cafe programs, go to http://www.phy.olemiss.edu/oxfordsciencecafe. For more information about the Department of Physics and Astronomy, visit http://www.olemiss.edu/depts/physics_and_astronomy or call 662-915-5311.